Welcome to Malmö - welcome home
Malmö and south Sweden provide the best environment for developing digital games. At least according to the thousands of developers already living here. The region features world-class studios, talent, games, opportunities to grow professionally, a nurturing ecosystem and a social and inclusive developer community.
It also features world-class quality of life. Malmö and south Sweden is a great place to live, providing both big city life and a countryside with shifting nature. Plus, Malmö is one of the world’s most diverse and international cities, and one of the most sustainable. Game developers from around the globe bring their families along to enjoy high and affordable living standards, great schools and healthcare, plenty of leisure activities and an enjoyable work-life balance. It’s also cheap to live and run a business here. And for when you need to leave, Malmö provides great connections to the rest of the world.
Sounds too good to be true? No, it actually is that great – come check it out for yourself!
Attending London Games Festival 2023 and W.A.S.D Careers? We’ll be there, come talk to us in our booth if you’re interested in finding a home in Malmö’s games industry!
Come see us at Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London, on 30-31 March.
Not able to see us in London? You can always get in touch with us via this form if you wish to know more about the career opportunities and life in Malmö and south Sweden.
10 things you should know about...
Game development in Malmö
- 1500+ game developers and 70+ studios (+ 50 more studios in the region)
- One of the highest concentrations of game developers and studios in the world – 2.8 more studios per capita compared to London for instance – with several AAA studios as well as many award-winning indie studios
- Six game education programs with 350 students – including The Game Assembly, one of the world’s foremost game dev schools (another four programs with another 550 students in the region)
- Home to the Nordic Game Conference, publishers, investors, incubators and accelerators – all parts of the industry is here
- Seven of Sweden’s ten largest studios have offices in Malmö, including Sweden’s largest – Ubisoft Massive
- Strong IP’s in development, such as Star Wars, James Bond and Avatar
- Almost 50 % of all game employees are foreign-born – 66 nationalities in the city’s game studios
- Home to Game Habitat’s DevHub, the world’s largest dedicated house for game development with 150 developers and 25 studios in the same house
- English is overwhelmingly the main studio language
- An inclusive and welcoming community with developer meetups and other events for both social and professional purposes
Living in Malmö
- 350.000 inhabitants, Sweden’s 3rd largest city
- 1.4 million inhabitants in the wider region (Skåne and Blekinge) – commuting from the countryside or suburbs is fast and easy
- Citizens from 183 of the 193 countries in the UN lives in Malmö – making Malmö one of the world’s most international cities
- An international city with food, shops and languages from around the world
- A young vibrant city, 48% of its inhabitants are 35 years or younger
- It’s cheap – it’s 19% cheaper to run a business in Malmö than in Berlin, and apartments in central Malmö cost about half compared to Berlin and a 1/3 compared to central Stockholm
- Malmö is one of the best places in Europe for setting up a new venture, not the least because of the existing support ecosystem
- Swedes in general speak very good English
- Everything is close in Malmö, providing amazing quality of life – beaches, Michelin awarded restaurants, parks and shopping centers are just a short bike ride away
- Great international connections, by train or via Copenhagen Airport (which only is 20 minutes away by train from Malmö)
Browse game jobs in Malmö
Looking for a new future? Here are game studios in Malmö currently hiring:
Studio? Come try Malmö out - for free!
If you’re an international game studio looking for new opportunities, we offer a fully furnished office at DevHub in central Malmö. DevHub is a whole house to grow your game and to socialize. On five floors in the heart of Malmö, more than 150 developers and 25 game studios work and hang out. It’s the perfect place for game developers that wish to start or grow their game studio, find partners and make new friends. DevHub is run by Game Habitat and is the world’s largest dedicated game development house, as far as we know. Regardless, our inhabitants love it – like, really love it.
At DevHub we have a guest office which international developers can lend for three months free of charge to try Malmö and south Sweden out themselves. The offer is made available by our partner Invest in Skåne. Find out more and register your interest to use the office via the button below.
Apart from the office, we also provide guidance to explore the city’s ecosystem of studios, schools, publishers, investors, incubators and accelerators, and of course we make introductions to south Sweden’s inclusive game development community.
Testimonial: Tapping into Malmö's thriving game development ecosystem
”There are so many great people in such a small space. Of course, the people are friendly, and Sweden is a nice country, but I think it is the density that stands out. It is kind of like a Silicon Valley for gaming!” The most recent inhabitant of the guest office, Flurin Jenal, talks about his experience in Malmö. Flurin is from Switzerland, once appeared on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list and recently sold his former game studio and have thus embarked on a new journey founding a new studio. He came to Malmö to build relationships, especially with investor, and to try out the thriving game development ecosystem in Malmö and south Sweden.
Find out more
Malmö and south Sweden is the best environment for game developers. But don’t take our word for it, we encourage you to do your own research before making up your mind, here are some useful links to get you started:
- MCV/Develop on “Sweden’s gaming powerhouse in Skåne”
- Facts and figures on the Swedish gaming industry, published annually by the Swedish games trade association
- Introduction to the Swedish games industry – every 8th person in the world has played a game made in Sweden
- Why it’s possible to combine a career with family life, work-life balance in Sweden
- Invest in Skåne on the advantages of running a game studio in Malmö
- Visit Skåne – the official guide of Skåne, the region where Malmö is located
- Visit Malmö – a few suggestions for what to see and do in Malmö according to the local tourist agency
- The local’s guide to Malmö
- Gender equality in Sweden, and why equal power and influence is so important to the Swedish government
- A handy checklist of firsts when moving to Sweden (your new employer in Malmö will of course help you along)
- 20 things the Swedish Institute think you ought to know before moving here
Contact
Questions, or need help getting started on your journey? Get in touch with us!